Gender and politics in a Carrier Indian community ...

• Main Author: Fiske, Jo-Anne
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: University of British Columbia 2010
• Subjects: stoney
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.14288/1.0302367; https://doi.library.ubc.ca/10.14288/1.0302367

This thesis presents a study of the political processes of Stoney Creek, Saik'uz, a Carrier Indian community in British Columbia. The primary goal is to account for the central role of women in public decision making. The focus is on the political significance of women's domestic authority, of their influence in kinship groups, of their social rank in the clan/potlatch complex, and of their roles in the elected council and the administrative structure, and of their voluntary associations. The study is approached from three directions. First, women's changing socio-economic position is described and analyzed. Second, the influence of traditional culture on modern life is considered. Third, the current socio-political organization of the community is examined in relation to prevailing conditions of economic dependency. Here the focus is on the management of scarce social and economic resources and on the competition for decision-making positions. This study argues that women's public presence is the result of ...